Cytochrome P450 CYP307A1/Spook: A regulator for ecdysone synthesis in insects

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications Vol. 337; no. 1; pp. 367 - 374
• Main Authors: Namiki, Toshiki, Niwa, Ryusuke, Sakudoh, Takashi, Shirai, Ken-ichi, Takeuchi, Hideaki, Kataoka, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 11.11.2005
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Bombyx - enzymology; Bombyx - genetics; Bombyx - growth & development; Bombyx mori; Cyp307a1; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - classification; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - genetics; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - metabolism; Cytochrome P450; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila Proteins - genetics; Ecdysone; Ecdysone - biosynthesis; Gene Expression Profiling; Halloween mutant; In Situ Hybridization; Molecular Sequence Data; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Phylogeny; Prothoracic gland; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Sequence Alignment; Spook; Steroidogenesis; Cyp307a1; Cytochrome P450; Spook; Bombyx mori; Steroidogenesis; Ecdysone; Drosophila melanogaster; Halloween mutant; Prothoracic gland
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.09.043

The prothoracic gland (PG) has essential roles in synthesizing and secreting a steroid hormone called ecdysone that is critical for molting and metamorphosis of insects. However, little is known about the genes controlling ecdysteroidogenesis in the PG. To identify genes functioning in the PG of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, we used differential display PCR and focused on a cytochrome P450 gene designated Cyp307a1. Its expression level positively correlates with a change in the hemolymph ecdysteroid titer. In addition, Drosophila Cyp307a1 is encoded in the spook locus, one of the Halloween mutant family members showing a low ecdysone titer in vivo, suggesting that Cyp307a1 is involved in ecdysone synthesis. While Drosophila Cyp307a1 is expressed in the early embryos and adult ovaries, the expression is not observed in the PGs of embryos or third instar larvae. These results suggest a difference in the ecdysone synthesis pathways during larval development in these insects.